Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I am not in a position to accept the amendment, although I appreciate the concerns and subtleties of the point made by Deputy Calleary. I was concerned that by including "by another review process equivalent to relevant international best practice" we might somehow lessen the rigour of SFI's renowned review process of excellence. There is a danger inherent in that if it is dissipated in any way, the core of SFI would be diminish.

I assure the Deputy that nobody is seeking to diminish that in any way and the inclusion of the words "review process equivalent to relevant international best practice" is absolutely necessary. Such a requirement is primarily due to the smaller grant-funded programmes that SFI is now supporting in the promotion of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, STEM, subjects, where SFI's rigorous international scientific peer review process is not an appropriate mechanism to use. Deputies should be aware that in March 2012, as part of our reform programme, we transferred responsibility for the Discover Science & Engineering, DSE, programme from Forfás to SFI, given the synergies that exist between the DSE-supported actions and certain SFI science awareness supports. In addition, some of the smaller grants that SFI administers, such as the conferences and workshops programme that works to attract top-class conferences and leading scientists to Ireland, are not internationally peer reviewed and nor should they be. As is increasingly the case, where opportunities arise for SFI to co-fund with another agency, Department or research entity - in Ireland or in collaboration across international borders - it may not always be appropriate or possible to utilise an international scientific peer review process.

It is critical that we ensure in such instances that whatever review mechanism is used by SFI or it is party to, such a process should be of an appropriately high standard and of international best practice. For these reasons, the inclusion of the words "or by any other review process equivalent to relevant international best practice" is absolutely necessary in the section.